August 16, 2005

RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion Virginia Power customers concerned about paying for the electricity they used during the hottest July in 12 years may want to consider enrolling in the company’s budget billing program.

Customers have used an extraordinary amount of electricity in recent weeks because of high summer temperatures. On July 27, electricity customers set an all-time record one-hour peak demand of 18,897 megawatts. It was the third peak in three consecutive days and the fourth in nine days.

Extreme temperatures, either hot or cold, affect monthly electricity bills more than any other factor. But with budget billing, customers pay the same amount each month.

Budget-billing customers always know what their payments will be. Electricity usage for a year is divided by 12 to determine a monthly budget bill amount. Dominion periodically reviews customer usage and may adjust the budget amount if customers are using a much more or much less electricity. If not, the budget amount remains the same.

Meters will continue to be read monthly. Customer bills will show usage, what it costs, and the actual account balance along with the budget amount due.

To enroll in budget billing, customers cannot owe more than their most recent monthly bill. If they are current in their payments, they can sign up for budget billing immediately. No extensions or special payment arrangements are granted for customers on budget billing.

Customers also can request budget billing when applying for service at a new address. The first bills may be less than or more than the monthly budget amount, depending on the number of days during the first billing period.

Customers can receive budget bills online and can use Dominion’s automated payment plan to pay bills automatically. To get projected budget amounts and sign up, customers can go online to www.dom.com, or call toll-free 1-888-667-3000 and ask about the budget billing plan.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 28,100 megawatts of generation. Dominion also serves retail energy customers in nine states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

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